Turnaround
by BeltayneWitch
Summary: Sometimes the worst situations end up having the best consequences. HG/SS


**Author's Note**

**This is written in response to the Partner Competition on the HPFC forum. I used all ten prompts given which were: caught, blurry, "Behind you!", It wasn't the best way to start a day…, green with envy, cold, insect, "I didn't really want to.", terror, and swam. Also, it is slightly AU in that Snape is alive after the war.**

**I hope you all enjoy reading it. As always, I own nothing more than the plot. The characters and anything else you may recognize belong to the talented J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. I'm merely borrowing them for my own amusement. **

**Please be so kind as to leave a review and let me know what you all think.**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

'_It wasn't the best way to start a day,_' Hermione realized as she trudged up the sloped lawn towards the castle. The wind was blowing fiercely against her face, making her sopping wet form that much more cold. It was mid-November, the semester was almost over, and Christmas holidays were almost upon them. It had yet to snow, which was strange in itself, but she thought little of it. Honestly at that moment she was rather thankful for it.

"Miss Granger, how is it that you always manage to get yourself caught in some sort of peril? I used to think it was just the circumstance of being near Potter, but I'm beginning to realize that was a mere coincidence."

The smooth baritone of the reclusive potions master caused a chill to run though her body that had nothing to do with the weather. Hermione fought to keep herself from shivering, but it was futile. She settled instead for halfheartedly glaring at the snide man as she reached the crest of the hill and the entrance to the bridge that led across the steep valley and into the school.

"First, _Mister Snape_, I think it's acceptable for you to call me by my given name, as I have told you to do repeatedly. We've been colleagues for almost three years now. Second, I'll have you know that this," she gestured to herself and the water that was steadily dripping from her hair, "is hardly perilous."

She pushed past him and made her way across the bridge, feeling every bit the idiot for having forgotten her wand in her quarters before going on her morning rounds. She heard him sigh and then the sound of his feet against the worn floor as he made to catch up to her.

"You're soaking wet."

"Thank you, Severus. I hadn't noticed. You know, I'm absolutely green with envy at your observational skills." Hermione deadpanned as she looked warily at him from the corner of her eye. She gasped as magic brushed against her entire body, flooding it with warmth and leaving behind a slight tingling sensation. She stopped, turning to look at him. His brow furrowed in confusion as he looked down at her, his dark eyes searching for something. She hadn't noticed before now that his eyes were not actually black, but rather a very dark brown. '_The same shade as pure dark chocolate or maybe a dark roast coffee_.'

"Why?"

It took her a moment to realize that he had spoken, and another to comprehend what he had said. She shook her head to clear it, her honey colored curls flying about. She thought for a second on how best to respond, but instead of saying anything she reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small canvas bag. She offered it to him, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. He hesitated for a moment before taking the bag and opening it. Shock and surprise flashed across his face before he settled on a look of disbelief.

"You went for a swim, in the Black Lake in the middle of November, for some insects?" He sounded slightly horrified.

"It's not just any insect, Severus."

"I know what it is, Hermione, and while I do admire your thirst for knowledge and your eye for the rare and valuable, I feel I should worry for your sanity."

"I...I didn't really want to," She began, "but when I saw them, I thought of how much you would like them. Then I thought of the sort of potions you could use them in, and how much you would have to pay for them if you needed to buy some, and I knew you didn't have any in your personal stores, so I-"

Her words faded as his lips brushed against her own. For a brief moment she thought it must have been some sort of joke, until his tongue ran across her bottom lip and all thoughts swam from her mind. She leaned in to him, her hands braced against his chest and clutching at his robes. Her lips parted slightly as she returned his kiss. Without warning he pushed himself away from her as though she had electrocuted him, panting slightly with a look of terror on his face.

"Severus?" She whispered, her mind reeling and her vision somewhat blurry.

"I-I…er…I'm-"

"Don't you dare apologize, Severus Tobias Snape." Hermione said, cutting him off before he could even form the words, but her tone wasn't harsh. She sounded as though the wind had been knocked out of her. She looked at him and noticed with a gasp that for the first time in all the years she had known him, he looked truly afraid. This man that had stared down death at the hands of a mad man with the calm, emotionless demeanor of one taking a stroll through the park was scared of a kiss. Hermione was sure that she would have laughed at the thought had he not looked so vulnerable and so truly out of his depth. Instead she took it as an opportunity.

It had been in her third year that Hermione began to develop a crush on the dour man. He wasn't the nicest person and he surely would never win an award for most handsome wizard, but to her, even then, he had been mesmerizing. She admired the way he could quiet a room with one look, the way he could move about without a sound, the way he radiated authority. His selfless bravery in protecting them from Remus as he transformed under the full moon had destroyed every notion she ever held of him being heartless despite his insistence that he had just been doing his duty as a professor by protecting students in danger.

Over the years, she had tried to tell herself that it was some passing fancy, and that it would disappear like any other, but it never did. Instead it grew stronger and deeper until it became rooted within her. During the final battle, her fate had been sealed and she had known in that instance that she would never move on, that she had fallen for him and that she_ loved_ him. Her mind flashed back to that one moment that now seemed a lifetime ago.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Voldemort had just announced that Harry was dead. Hermione felt her heart stop as everything around her grew quiet. She had been in the Great Hall, or rather what was left of it, when his voice reverberated throughout the grounds of Hogwarts. Surely, she had thought, the whole world had heard the horrible declaration that signaled the end of everything they knew. She walked out of the Hall and through the main doors, falling into line between Neville and Ginny. She saw Hagrid carrying a bundle in his arms as Voldemort and his Death Eaters moved towards the castle, smug looks of victory etched on all of their faces. He began to speak, but Hermione wasn't listening. Her attention was focused on the bundled mass in Hagrid's arms and then she realized that the bundle had black hair. It was Harry. A sob escaped her as she fought to remain standing. _

_How could everything have gone so wrong? What had they missed? Her mind swirled as she went over everything they had done over the past year in an attempt to destroy the horrible excuse of a creature before her. She never took her eyes off of Harry and was thus caught off guard as he sprang from Hagrid's arms, well and truly alive. She wasn't sure what, but something was different, better. He looked younger, like a weight had been lifted from him. Within seconds hell broke loose as Neville brought the sword of Gryffindor down upon Nagini, destroying the final Horcrux and bring victory within their sights. Spells, charms and curses began flying and the evening sky was drenched in color. She remembered drawing her wand and casting, but everything else was a blur, at least until he showed up. _

_She had been locked in a duel with Dolohov for what felt like hours. Her entire body was screaming in pain and lagging with exhaustion, her stubbornness alone giving her the strength to keep going. She was finally gaining the upper hand when a voice yelled out._

"_Behind you!"_

_Before she realized what was happening, she was knocked face first to the ground as a jet of green light flew overhead. A familiar voice yelled out a quick 'Sectumsempra,' before she was hauled to her feet. She was half ready to yell at him until her eyes caught his and every untoward comment vanished on her lips. The image of him bleeding out on the floor of the Shrieking Shack was still so fresh in her mind that she couldn't hold back her cry of astonishment. _

"_You…you're…you're alive." Her voice was shaky and weak. _

_He chuckled softly as a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Briefly she thought of how handsome he looked when he smiled, and wished he would do so more often._

"_Perhaps you have forgotten on your year's vacation, Granger, but I am a potion's master and a wizard. It would take much more than a snake bite to remove me from this world." She noticed the two small dots of blood on the collar of his shirt, though there was much less than she had imagined there would be. She stared at him in disbelief for a moment before she caught sight of Avery over his shoulder and in an instant she fighting again, standing back to back with Snape against a swarm of Death Eaters._

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

"Hermione?" He sounded worried and she realized that she had been spacing out. How long had he been trying to get her attention, she wondered.

"Hmm? Oh! I'm sorry, Severus. I was just thinking…"she broke off, realized how close they had become. Apparently, his worry for her had overridden his fear of her rejection and he had ended up standing inches away from her, his hand on her shoulder.

She took a deep breath, noting that he smelled like a mixture of herbs, sandalwood and something purely his own. It was intoxicating. Hermione refused to think about what she was about to do for fear that she would talk herself out of it and she reached up, her hand grasping his bicep and pressed her lips against his in a timid kiss. He didn't respond immediately and she began to pull away. As she stepped back, however, his arms wrapped firmly around her middle and pulled her flush against him. Her last thought before her mind when blank was that perhaps her day was starting off better than she had thought.


End file.
